Carzy Zarx’s PC Gaming Emporium - Catch Up on All the Latest PC Gaming Related News

[JEMC]

Another Monday, another round of news:

SALES /PLAYER COUNT & DEALS

GOG has two new Deals of the Day that will last 46 hours:

• The first one is Dark Envoy, 25% off: https://www.gog.com/en/game/dark_envoy
• The second one is the Krush Kill 'N Destroy Bundle, with two games, featuring a 50% discount: https://www.gog.com/en/game/krush_kill_n_destroy_bundle

Steam has one new deal: Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number will be 85% off until the 14th of March: https://store.steampowered.com/app/274170/Hotline_Miami_2_Wrong_Number/.

Humble Bundle has a new one: the Humble Heroines: Action, Adventure & Intrigue Bundle, with up to 8 items to get during the next 18 days: https://www.humblebundle.com/games/humble-heroines-action-adventure-intrigue.

SOFTWARE & DRIVERS

In just a week, Steam sets a new record with 35 million concurrent players
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/in-just-a-week-steam-sets-a-new-record-with-35-million-concurrent-players/
Last week, Steam surpassed 34 million concurrent players. And in just a week, Valve’s digital service has managed to set a brand new record as it passed over 35 million concurrent players.
Now, let’s take a look at the Top 20 Most Played Games in the last 24 hours. What’s interesting here is that the first six games are the same as those from last week. Counter-Strike 2 leads the charts, followed by DOTA 2, PUBG: BATTLEGROUNDS, Apex Legends, Helldivers 2 and NARAKA: BLADEPOINT. GTA 5 has managed to climb to the eighth place, whereas Palworld has fallen to the ninth place. Last Epoch also lost two places, and can be now found in the tenth place.

MODS, EMULATORS & FAN PROJECTS

The canceled Nintendo Switch emulator, Yuzu, runs Unicorn Overlord with 60fps
https://www.dsogaming.com/pc-performance-analyses/nintendo-switch-emulator-yuzu-unicorn-overlord-60fps/
Unicorn Overlord is a new tactical RPG that just came out on Nintendo Switch. And even though the big “N” has shut down Yusu, this canceled Nintendo Switch emulator can run this game with 60fps on PC.
YouTube’s ‘reznoire’ posted a video featuring more than 7 minutes of gameplay from it. And, as we can see, the game is playable on Yuzu. There don’t seem to be any major visual or graphical issues. Plus, the performance looks really good.
To capture this gameplay footage, reznoire used an Intel Core i9-14900K with an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 and 48GB of RAM. It’s a pretty high-end PC system. The good news though is that reznoire has included the MSI Afterburner/Rivatunner overlay in the video. And, as we can see, the RTX4090 was used at around 60%.
>> The article has an almost 8 minutes video.

Here are Gran Turismo 5, Metal Gear Solid 4, Demon’s Souls, Uncharted 3, Killzone 3 and more running on PC via the latest version of RPCS3
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/gran-turismo-5-metal-gear-solid-4-demons-souls-uncharted-3-killzone-3-pc/
The team behind the best PlayStation 3 emulator, RPCS3, has released a new video. In this video, we get to see games like Gran Turismo 5, Metal Gear Solid 4, Demon’s Souls, Uncharted 3, Killzone 3 and more running on PC via the latest version of the PS4 emulator.
Going into more details, Gran Turismo 5 now appears to be playable on PC. On a high-end PC system, you can get 60fps during races. Killzone 3 also appears to be running great, especially now that the team has fixed an issue that could cause major performance issues on NVIDIA’s GPUs.
Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception looks better than ever now on RPCS3. However, performance and stability still need to be improved. Metal Gear Solid 4 also runs and looks better than ever on RPCS3. However, it will be a real challenge to get close to 60fps. So, similarly to U3, RPCS3 still needs more optimizations for MGS4.
The latest version of RPCS3 also fixes major graphical issues in games like Demon’s Souls, God of War 3 and Fuse. Speaking of Fuse, the game is fully playable now on RPCS3, and there is also a 60fps patch for it.
It’s also worth noting that the RPCS3 team has added a new feature to the emulator. Right now, PC gamers can enable an in-game overlay. Via this overlay, you can enable Anisotropic Filtering, set the game’s framerate, and even enable a Performance Overlay. This is a cool new feature, so kudos to the team.
>> The article has an almost 10 minutes video.

psOff is a new PlayStation 4 emulator that can run a few games
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/psoff-is-a-new-playstation-4-emulator-that-can-run-a-few-games/
And here comes a new challenger. Last week, a brand new PlayStation 4 emulator surfaced online, called psOff. Created by SysRay and VKokielov, this PS4 emulator appears to run a few, relatively simple, games. However, it’s still nowhere close to what some other PS4 emulators can achieve.
As SysRay noted, psOff renders decently fast right now. The emulator can run Sonic Mania Plus with 1449fps, Worms W.M.D with 234fps and Blackhole with 32fps. So, pretty good results for a new PlayStation 4 emulator.
This is the sixth PS4 emulator that is currently in development. The other five are fpPS4, Spine, RPCSX, Kyty and GPCS4. From these, the most advanced right now appears to be Spine. The second most promising PS4 emulator is fpPS4. RPCSX, the PS4 emulator from the creators of RPCS3, is in third place. At least in my opinion.
What you should keep in mind is that all of these PlayStation 4 emulators are unable to run complex 3D games. So no, don’t expect to be playing Bloodborne on PC anytime soon. In fact, fpPS4 managed to launch Bloodborne and ran with… 1-3fps. Maaaaaaaarvelous (only T8 fans will get it).
>> The article has three screenshots about the three emulated games mentioned, and confirming the 1449fps for Sonic Mania that I thought was a typo.

Nintendo 3DS emulator Lime rises from the ashes of Citra
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/nintendo-3ds-emulator-lime-rises-from-the-ashes-of-citra/
Citra used to be the top Nintendo 3DS emulator for PC. However, Citra was canceled after Nintendo shut down Yuzu. After all, the team responsible for it was the same that was working on Yuzu. Luckily, though, a new emulator called Lime has emerged from Citra’s ashes. So, let’s take a closer look at it.
According to its description, Lime is the world’s most popular, open-source, Nintendo 3DS emulator. The emulator is written in C++ with portability in mind. Right now, builds are actively maintained for Windows, Linux, Android, and macOS. So yes, you can use it to turn your mobile into a 3DS console.
From the looks of it, this is a fork of Citra. As such, it will run all the games that were compatible with it. It will also inherit the problems and issues that the latest build of Citra had.

The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion just got a must-have HD Texture Pack
https://www.dsogaming.com/pc-performance-analyses/the-elder-scrolls-iv-oblivion-just-got-a-must-have-hd-texture-pack/
Modder ‘GBRPluss’ has released an HD Texture Pack for The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion that overhauls all of its landscape textures. This is a must for everyone who wants to replay this classic TES game. So, be sure to download it.
To showcase the new textures, GBRPluss shared the following comparison screenshots. And, I’ll be honest here. This appears to be one of the best AI-powered HD Texture Packs I’ve seen. The new modded textures look WAY better than the vanilla ones. You can also immediately spot the differences. You won’t have to zoom in to find the changes.

GAMING NEWS

Delta Force: Hawk Ops feels like a mix of Call of Duty, Battlefield and Overwatch in its latest gameplay trailer
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/delta-force-hawk-ops-call-of-duty-battlefiend-overwatch/
Level Infinite and TiMi Studio Group just dropped a new gameplay trailer for Delta Force: Hawk Ops. In this trailer, the game gives off vibes of Call of Duty, Battlefield, and Overwatch all rolled into one package. So, let’s take a closer look at it.

Here are 90 minutes of gameplay from the action RPG, No Rest for the Wicked
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/90-minutes-gameplay-no-rest-for-the-wicked/
Eurogamer has shared a video that packs 90 minutes of gameplay footage from the upcoming action RPG, No Rest for the Wicked. This video will give you an idea of what the game looks like, and how it plays. So, be sure to check it out.

Here are the first 40 minutes of gameplay from Stellar Blade
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/first-40-minutes-gameplay-stellar-blade/
Shift Up released a demo for the upcoming action adventure game, Stellar Blade, and below you can find a video that shows off 40 minutes of gameplay from it.

WWE 2K24 runs incredibly well on PC, gets first post-launch update
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/wwe-2k24-runs-incredibly-well-on-pc-gets-first-post-launch-update/
2K Games has just released WWE 2K24 on PC. Contrary to its NBA 2K series, though, WWE 2K24 can look on PC just as good as its PS5 and Xbox Series X versions. Moreover, the devs released update 1.03, and shared its full patch notes.

Final Fantasy XVI will get a free PC demo before release
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/final-fantasy-xvi-will-get-a-free-pc-demo-before-release/
Although there is currently no official PC release date for Final Fantasy XVI, producer Naoki Yoshida confirmed that Square Enix will release a free demo. This free PC demo will be made available before the game releases. As such, PC gamers will be able to test their PC systems before purchasing it.